To kill or not to kill

Writing is about decisions. What do I put in? What do I leave out? What does this character look like? What happens in this scene? One of the most difficult decisions is who do I kill off?

I had that decision to make earlier in the week and I decided to do X. From that moment on everything I wrote was hard work. The scenes wouldn't flow. the dialogue was stilted. It just didn't feel right.

Then while I was shaving this morning I realised that if I allowed my decision to stand I'd have to write a very different book to the one I'd envisaged. The entire direction and nature of the book would have to change.

So I went back and changed my decision and had to dump 3,000 words. Suddenly the words were flowing again and an idea occurred to me which I will be able to capitalise on in Book Four A Death in Autumn.

Some people may think that I had a moment of inspiration. But it could just be another example of my unconscious tacit knowledge at work. Either way I can't take credit for it, as it involved no conscious thought on my part.

Cheers

Jim